Apparatus for producing seamless tubes



'.ne l0 I9Z4. l 1,497,467

` A. J. AIKEN, JR

APPARATUS F-'OR PRODUCING SEAMLESS TUBES Filed Jline 20. 1921 INVEN TOR.

' ,LiTToRNEx/sl Patent .lune l0, i

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING- SEAMLESS TUBES.

,Application med June 20, 1921.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ANDREW J. AIKEN, Jr., a citizen vof the United States, and a resident of Cleveland, county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Im-I ling the gauge of seamless tubes made from billets on piercing mills. More particularly,

it comprises a pair of rolls or disks having a certain position adjacent the piercing mandrel, whereby they act in conjunction to knead the metal prior to its being pierced,

in such a manner as to remove or break u the seams or laps produced on. the outsi e surface, together with the use of a steadyrest for the billet as it is being reduced in size on the inlet angles of the piercing mill and a comb adjacent thereto whereby the outside surface is thoroughly combed just before the pierced billet is reduced to the wall thickness required. The expressions comb or combing refer respectively to the means and the process of cutting the longitudinal lines, or liber, formed on a rolling mill bar when subjected to the action of the rolls in a tube mill.

Heretofore, it appears a steady-rest or comb has not been utilized in conjunction with work of this character and the seamless tubes produced have been marked by seams andvvlapped portions, which has detracted from the value of the product.

To avoid the disadvantages of the char- .acter noted, I associate with a pair of disks a pair of steady-rests or combs or combinations of the same, according to the size and character of thework to be operated upon and in this manner secure a product free .of the defects referred to. To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out 1n the claims.

Theannexed drawing andthe following description set forth in detail certain mechanism embodying the invention, such disclosed means constituting, however, but one @arial No. 478,792.

of the various mechanical forms in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawing:-

Fi 1 is a side elevation of the metal working parts of a piercing mill, portions thereof being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional elevation taken along the line 2--2 in Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a partial horizontal plan view looking in the direction of the arrows 3-3 shown in Fig. l, and showing the mechanism to either side of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a detail view of a modified form of the abutment adjusting device.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, adjacent a piercing mandrel, 1, of the usual constructlon, I position a comb roll 2 and a plain block 3, conjointly serving as a steady-rest, each of said members being adjustable toward the work and occupying positions intermediate the groove rolls hereinafter referred to. I

may employ plain blocks or comb blocks and plain rolls or comb rolls, or any combination of rolls and blocks for controlling the gauge and combing the bllets,.that may seem desirable for the Work in hand. The adjustment whereby the several elements are moved toward or away from the work is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. As there shown. the block 3 upon its upper side is of slightly convex shape and rests upon abase plate 4 within which it is held by means of a keyway 5 formed on its underside engaging a tapered block 6 in a rec-ess 7 withln said base plate and adjustable longitudinally of said recess by means of an adjusting screw 8 so as to be forced outwardly as its lower inclined side bears against a coacting incline 9 at the base of said recess. A plate 11 is inset into the base block and this plate with the adjacent plate 32 hereinafter described located forwardly of the lain block referred to, serve to catch the ack end of the tube as it comes over the piercing point. During the normal operation of the apparatus it is not required that the plates touch the tube, a small amount of clearance being present, as is clearly shown in Fi 1. The adjustment of the comb roll 2 i ustrated is secured by means of a pair of adjusting bolts 12, 13 en agin sockets in the up er portion of a yo e 1 the arms of whic carry the journals for said roll. Above each of the adjusting ,boltsV a coil spring 15, 16, is placed, its ends bearing agalnst the yoke and lan adjustable abutment 21 through which said bolts pass.` rlhe abutment has its end portions 22 tongued to t within grooves 23 in the adjacent supporting blocks 25 and its central portion is provided with an upstanding stud 26, screw threaded for its entire distance and .engaged within an internally threaded collar 27 fitted within the top plate 28of the support and secured thereto by means of a detachable dan e 29 held thereto by suitable fastenings s own as a pair of set screws, 31. lln Fig. 4 there is shown a modified form of adjustin device for the abutment, the-top plate 38 eing formed with a transverse recess adjacent the stud 26, within which is housed an adjusting nut 30, the rotation of which changes the osition of the abutment 21. The under si e of the top plate has formed integrally therewith a pair of blocks 25, which carry the guiding grooves heretoyfore referred to and at their lower sides A-carry'a pair of plates 32 of hardened metal. said lates being provided with' screw threa ed recesses 33, whereby they are secured in position, and held against the adjacent blocks by means of bolts 34, the lower ends of which engage said screw threaded recesses in the plates.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, upon each side of the piercing mandrel 1, there are provided u on the frame of the mill a pair of oppose reducing and feeding disks 41, 42, which arepreferably mounted upon parallel axes andv in staggered relation to each other. rlhus, as clearly shown in said figure, the effective portions of the rim of one disk overlaps the effective portion of the opposite disk and together they form a pass above the iercing mandrel, narrowing from the inet portion to a point just beyond the extreme and of the piercing mandrel and bar is held steady and the thence widening to a size. corresponding to the permanent faces of the work. `The axes of such `disks may be oppositely positioned but inclined toward one another or they may be parallel to one another and in spaced relation so that the peripheries of the respective disks overlap, as shown in the preferred form of the construction infllig. 3.

Through the construction above illustrated, the ioating of the billet at the nose of the piercing point is avoided and the piercing point 'will thus serve to provide a product of Huniform gauge and will not travel to the hottest side of the billet. The pierced tube does not thrust against` the outlet guides as in the present practice and guide scratches are ayoided. rllhe` piercing tubes can be 'pierced with a thin wall, without buckling. This construction plrolongs the life of the piercing point as t e How of metal is not nate? retarded by .thrusting against the guides, as in theV practice now commonly used. The billet, it will be noted, is combed, rolled and recombed as it advances, allowing the piercing mill disks or rolls to get below the outer seams in the billet and work` upon solid metal. IThe depth of combing should be sucient to penetrate and thus eliminate such seams as are now removed from tubes by finishing operations, such 'as filing or grinding, after the forming of the` tubes is completed. The itch of the comb must be carefully adjustedp so as to permit the comb to operatejupon the metal without retarding -it as it advances in the piercing mill.

@ther modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards mechanism herein disclosed, provided the Vmeans stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed. l

l therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention :h

1. In a piercing mill, a piercin point, and means contacting with the wor along a narrow area immediately adjacent to and transversely in alignment with said iercing point for controlling the gauge of t e tube.

2. In a piercing millfa piercing point, a pair of feeding elements adjacent said point and an intermediate element for controlling the gauge of the tube and contacting continuously with the work jacent to and transversely in line with the nose of said piercing point.

3. ln a piercing mill, a piercing point, a pair of feeding elements adjacent said point and a pair of intermediate elements for controlling the gauge of the tube and contacting continuously with the work immediately adjacent to and transversely in line with the nose of said piercing point.

4. ln a piercing mill, a piercing point', a pair of feeding elements' adjacent said point and a pair of intermediate elements for controlling the gauge of the tube and contacting continuously with the work immediately adjacent to and transversely in line with the nose of said piercing point, one of said elements comprising a combing member and its co-acting element being a plain guideblock. f' l 5. ln a piercing mill, a piercing point, a pair of feeding elements adjacent said point immediately adioo and a pair of intermediate elements for conF trolling the gauge of `the tube and contacting continuously with the workimmediatelv adjacent to and transversely in line with the,

Myne? e the gauge of the tubeand contacting ccninuously with the work immediately adjacent to and "ciansvcrsely in line with the nose cfsaid piercing point, one of said ele- 5 ments comprising a combing roll and its lc0- acting element being a plain guide block, and means for adiusting each of said elements.

Z1 lin a piercing mill, a aiercing point and l0 a pair of adjustable steaying elements in line with said piercing point and contacting substantially continuously with the metal at the point where the metal is reducing in size.

8. ln a. piercing mill, a piercing points and a pair of adjustable steadying elemenas immediately adjacent fac and transversely in line with said Piercing point, one o said elements comprising a combing roll.

Signed by me this 30th day cf April, 192i.

ANDREW J.' XKEN, Jn. 

